Washington Capitals drop home opener to Hurricanes

The Washington Capitals had a 2-0 lead but squandered it in the third period before falling in overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Carolina Hurricanes came back in similar fashion like in the playoffs last season and left Capital One Arena with a 3-2 overtime win. In a game that seemed like the Washington Capitals would cruise to another win to improve to 3-0, the Hurricanes rallied to stun the crowd.

Saturday night provided a great atmosphere in the District. Fans were given glowsticks to help light up the pregame festivities and their new videoboard above center ice is beyond state of the art.

Other additions included a ribbon LED lighting that wrapped around the top of the arena above the upper deck. There was also four additional big screens on each corner of the arena so you wouldn’t miss a replay no matter where you sat.

The Caps got on the board to the delight of the crowd at 17:23 in the first period with a great connection by the fourth line newcomers Brendan Leipsic and Garnet Hathaway. Leipsic got the puck off a turnover and found a charging Hathaway. Hathaway went top shelf, stick side of Hurricanes netminder James Reimer.

1-0 was the score the Capitals had in the intermission despite being outshot 12-10 in the opening period.

The Capitals doubled their lead midway through the second period. T.J. Oshie made a great play in front of the net to tap in a high-flying loose puck. Jakub Vrana and Radko Gudas were credited with the helpers. The Hurricanes challenged for goaltender interference but lost.

Hathaway nearly scored twice to make it 3-0 but his goal didn’t count when they reviewed that for goaltender interference. It was still 2-0 after 40, the most dangerous lead in hockey. In the third period, the Hurricanes made the Capitals pay.

That goal overturn ended up changing the momentum of the game. Newcomer Erik Haula put the Hurricanes on the board at 2:36. At 9:50, Jaccob Slavin tied the game at two. The game would head to overtime with the shot totals close among both teams in the final two periods of regulation. The Caps outshot the Hurricanes 9-7 in the middle period and 9-8 in the final period.

In overtime, the Capitals outshot the Hurricanes 6-1 but it was the one shot by Jake Gardiner with 56 seconds left that counted the most and the Hurricanes left D.C. with a 3-2 win.

The Capitals went 0-for-6 on the power play but outshot the Canes 34-28. Braden Holtby stopped 25-of-28 shots for a .893 save percentage.

The Capitals will have two days off before hosting the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.